Thursday, February 26, 2015

A Win for Herpes

The pressure from the Charedi world was immense. And New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio seems to have succumbed to it. From the New York Times:

The city is seeking to waive a rule that requires parents to
sign a consent form before the ritual, which involves the circumciser using his
mouth to suck blood away from the incision on a boy’s penis. The ritual is
common among some branches of Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Judaism.

Administration officials on Tuesday announced a new policy
that they described as a compromise between reducing health risks for infants
and protecting the religious freedoms of those who cherish the ritual, known as
metzitzah b’peh, or oral suction.

The policy, which must be approved by the city’s Board of
Health, involves a series of medical tests when a baby is found to have herpes.
A circumciser who is proved through a DNA match to have the same herpes strain
as the baby’s would be banned for life from the practice.

Chasidim believe that Metzitza B’Peh (MbP) is an essential
part of the circumcision ritual. As such they felt that even a warning to a
parent of the possible hazards was an infraction of their constitutional right
to practice their religion freely. And although the Supreme Court has ruled
that freedom of religion does not extend to practices that are harmful, Chasdim
maintain that the incidence of a child becoming infected with Herpes via MbP
from a Mohel is yet to be proven. And in any case it is so rare, that health
concerns are hardly a significant worry.

As I have stated in the past. There are a variety of Poskim
on both the right and left, both past and present that have clearly Paskined
that Metzitza (drawing the blood out of the circumcision wound – a practice our
sages required as a health measure) may
be done by more sterile methods, like using a sterile pipette, or using gauze.
The Mohel’s lips need not touch the baby’s open wound. So I would have no
personal problem with abolishing the practice altogether. But I also respect
that there are others who disagree… and say that without MbP, the circumcision
is ritually invalid.

So for me the obvious and best compromise was the New York
Board of Health’s requirement for informed and written consent by any a parent before allowing
MbP to take place. That – combined with the relative rarity of a child
contracting an infection via MbP sufficed in my mind as both protecting freedom
of religion and at the same time making sure that a parent is aware that the
medical profession has determined MbP to be
a serious risk to the child’s health.

I’m sorry to see this reversal of what I thought was a sound
policy of compromise – even though it was probably observed by Chasidim and
many Charedim more in the breach. But at
least it was on the books. Parents deserve to know what the best medical minds in
the country have to say on the matter. That they may not care is up to them.

Opponents of informed written consent claimed that even
though MbP was not banned, the scare tactics of reading and signing a document
that put MbP in such a bad light was in itself a violation of their religious
rights.

I can’t really say I blame them. Who wants to see the government warning
you that a religious practice you consider to be inviolable - is considered dangerous to one’s health?!
Agudah Executive Vice President Rabbi
Chaim Dovid Zweibel called this requirement profoundly offensive to his
community

Nonetheless, the health of the child comes first. Way ahead of how offended someone
feels about it.

When it comes to Sakana - danger to one

’s health, there is no Halacha (aside from the 3 cardinal sins) that cannot be violated. Indeed they must be violated when it comes to health!

I suppose a recent test using DNA technology might have had
something to do with de Blasio’s decision. It was determined in the case of one
Mohel strongly suspected to have transmitted a herpes virus to a child he
circumcised (who subsequently died) that
he a was not the source. And to date, as far as I know there has been no direct
link made between an infected Mohel and a child that contracted herpes.

But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen... or can’t happen in the future. The Gemarah (Kesubos 23a) tells us: Lo Roinu Aino Rayah - Not
seeing something is not proof that it
didn’t happen.

So I am disappointed in the mayor of New York. I would like
to believe that he did this because of his sensitivity to his constituents’
religious rights, which was his stated reason. But I am a bit more cynical than that. He promised Chasidic voters during the election that he would get
rid of the informed consent requirement if he were elected. They voted for him. So now -even though he personally believes that MbP is a
dangerous procedure, he is keeping his promise. But it is a decision based on
politics, not on good government.

I don’t see how anyone could say it isn’t dangerous to place
a mouth on an 8 day old baby’s open wound. Would anyone in his right mind approve of a
surgeon sucking the blood out of an incision of that same infant undergoing surgery? Even
if he rinsed out his mouth with Listerine?

I suppose that half a loaf is better than no loaf as someone
so wisely reminded me recently. So testing a Mohel suspected of transmitting
herpes to a baby he circumcised and banning him for life if he is proven to have had it - is a plus. But
that will not prevent a Mohel that has never been tested from transmitting it.

Hopefully there has been so much public discussion about the
dangers of MbP that most parents are now aware of it and will think twice about
doing it. But for those who haven’t heard about it, the danger still remains or those who have but don’t care, the danger still remains..

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.